Transgender women will be allowed to participate in the Miss Universe beauty pageant next year, officials announced Tuesday, a week after they ruled a trail-blazing 23-year-old could vie for the crown this year.

Pageant officials said they are working on the language of the official rule policy change but expected final word to come soon. Trials for next year's Miss Universe pageant begin this summer.

The move comes five days after the organization said that Jenna Talackova could compete in the Miss Universe pageant this year. Talackova, a Vancouver resident, underwent a sex change four years ago after being born a male. The advocacy group GLAAD called on the Miss Universe Organization to review her case, as well as open the competition to transgender women.

"We want to give credit where credit is due, and the decision to include transgender women in our beauty competitions is a result of our ongoing discussions with GLAAD," said Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. "We have a long history of supporting equality for all women, and this was something we took very seriously."

Contest officials have been working closely with GLAAD to change the policy, and the advocacy group on Tuesday praised the decision and the work by Talackova to remain a contestant.

"The Miss Universe Organization today follows institutions that have taken a stand against discrimination of transgender women including the Olympics, NCAA, the Girl Scouts of America and The CW's America's Next Top Model," said GLAAD's senior director of programs Herndon Graddick. "At a time when transgender people are still routinely denied equal opportunities in housing, employment and medical care, today's decision is in line with the growing levels of public support for transgender people across the country."

"I am a woman," Talackova said last week. "I was devastated, and I felt that excluding me for the reason that they gave was unjust. I have never asked for any special consideration. I only wanted to compete."

Donald Trump, who runs the Miss Universe Organization, wished her the best of luck.

The official rules will have to be approved by Trump and NBC, which co-own the contest.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Video: Trump: Transgender beauty contestant can compete

>>that
donald trump
backs down. but following an outcry, he's decided to lift the ban on a transgender woman from entering his
miss universe
competition. well, nbc's
mike taibbi
has the latest. mike, good morning.

>>good morning, ann. well this dust-up over whether a transgender
beauty queen
can compete for one of the pageant world's top prizes is generating lots of publicity. no problem for
donald trump
, of course. but for
jenna
talackova's
west coast
lawyer. she is 6'1", statuesque and striking and until recently competed in transgender
beauty pageants
. 23-year-old
jenna
talackova, a canadian, told a reporter for the pageant that she knew from the time she could think that she was not the male she was at birth.

>>i always knew since i was about like 4.

>>really?

>>and i started my therapy and
hormone therapy
when i was 14. and then i went through with the surgery when i was 19.

>> reporter: it was
sex reassignment surgery
and her passport lists her sex as female. but talackova was disqualified from the upcoming
miss universe canada
pageant because she was not a natural-born female despite having stated otherwise on her entry form. an
online petition
drive by her supporters garnered 20,000 signatures and yesterday
donald trump
's
miss universe organization
said she can compete provided she meet the legal gender recognition requirements of canada and the standards of other international competitions.

>>we need a clear answer. not a wimpy, wish washy type of answer.

>> reporter: later to tmz trump said it clearly.

>>we go by the law and based on the laws she's able to compete if she wants to.

>> reporter: trump has been
center stage
in other pageant controversies.

>>she made some very, very bad choices.

>> reporter: giving a second chance to
2006miss usatara conner
, after she became embroiled in a cocaine and underage drinking scandal. and that created trump's epic battle with
rosie o
'donnell. on "the view."

>>there he is with the hair going, rosie --

>> reporter: and trump on "
access hollywood
."

>>rosie's been a loser for a long time.

>> reporter: and trump harshly criticized
2009miss usa
runner-up. now it's
jenna
talackova, the first transgender to go for the
miss universe
crown.

>>letting people know that she is proud of being transgendered, and certainly, i think, makes her a pioneer.

>> reporter: as for
jenna
--

>>i have never asked for any special consideration. i only want to compete.

>> reporter: we should note that the misuniverse pageant is a
joint venture
between
donald trump
and
nbc universal
. the canadian
miss universe
entry will be chosen at a pageant in may. trump says all this publicity has ramped up demand for tickets and his words know, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. big surprise there.

Facing DUI charges

Former Miss USA Rima Fakih, pictured here on April 11, 2012 as she faces DUI charges in district court in Highland Park, Mich. Fakih pleaded no contest in the case, and on May 9 she was sentenced to probation and community service for driving under the influence and getting pulled over with an open Champagne bottle in her car.
(AP, Reuters)
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A transgender Miss Universe?

Jenna Talackova, a transgender beauty queen, protested the decision by pageant representatives to drop her from the Miss Universe Canada competition. She was finally given the green light to go by the Donald Trump-led Miss Universe Organization. The 23-year-old will, however, need to prove that she meets the "legal gender recognition requirements of Canada," according to local media.
(Mario Anzuoni / Reuters)
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Miss California 1992

They may be beautiful, but the competition can get ugly. From blackmail to sabotage, check out the underside of the pageant circuit.

First up: Miss California 1992 Shannon Marketic, center, was accused of stealing almost $90 in beauty products from a Target store in August 2010. Marketic, 38, denies stealing the items and says they rolled in the cart and landed underneath her purse.
(AP, Denton Police Department)
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Former Miss California USA 2009

Hosts Billy Bush and Nadine Velazquez listen as Miss California Carrie Prejean makes her highly publicized answer to a question from judge Perez Hilton about legalizing same-sex marriage during the Miss USA Pageant in Las Vegas on April 19, 2009. The controversy grew in ensuing weeks when Prejean became the spokesperson for a national group opposing same-sex unions, after which racy photos of her surfaced. Prejean blamed people opposing her views for the release of the photos. She eventually surrendered her crown after pageant officials accused her of missing events, an allegation she denied.
(Eric Jamison / AP)
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Miss Universe 2008

Crowned Miss Universe in July 2008, Venezuela's Dayana Mendoza kept her crown despite risque photos that showed the beauty queen topless, though covering most of her chest. The Miss Universe president said that Mendoza’s photographs had "artistic beauty."
(Evan Agostini / AP)
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Miss Washington 2008

Elyse Umemoto, Miss Washington and second runner-up in this year's Miss America pageant, was shown flipping off the camera while wearing her crown, playing beer pong, posing in her bra and making suggestive hand signs on TMZ.com.
(Jacob Andrzejczak / Getty Images)
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Miss New Jersey 2007

Amy Polumbo was crowned Miss New Jersey 2007. An anonymous person threatened to reveal "scandalous" photos of the beauty queen, but Polumbo refused to cave in to the blackmail. She took the incident public and revealed the photos herself on TODAY.
(Donald B. Kravitz / AP)
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Miss USA 2006

Tara Conner, representing Kentucky, won the Miss USA title in 2006 and moved to New York City where she partied in clubs and drank despite being underage. Donald Trump gave her a reprieve, allowing her to retain the title after she agreed to enter rehab and undergo drug testing.
(Chris Gardner / AP)
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Miss South Carolina Teen USA

Lauren Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina, became a Internet sensation with her nonsensical answer to a question during the Miss Teen USA competition in August 2007. The 18-year-old got a chance to redeem herself on TODAY when she was again asked why one-fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a map.
(Patrick Prather / Miss Universe via AP)
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Miss France 2008

Despite racy photos that appeared recently in a gossip magazine, Miss France 2008 Valerie Begue will keep her crown, but will not compete in the Miss World or Miss Universe pageants.
(Francois Mori / AP)
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Miss Nevada USA 2006

Katie Rees was stripped of her title in 2006 after racy photos of her appeared on the Internet. Some of the photos showed her kissing other young women, exposing her breasts and pulling down her pants to show her thong underwear. Afterwards, Rees signed a two-year, $2 million-plus deal to host a variety show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. In April, Rees agreed to pay fines for five misdemeanor traffic violations in exchange for prosecutors dropping a charge of resisting arrest.
(AP)
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Miss New Jersey USA 2007

Ashley Harder held the title of Miss New Jersey USA 2007 and was set to compete in the Miss USA pageant before she became pregnant and voluntarily stepped down. Runner-up Erin Abrahamson assumed the title.
(Marcin Szczepanski / Courier-Post via AP)
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Miss California USA 2008

Christina Silva, 24, was declared Miss California USA in November only to have her crown revoked days later. Pageant official say a mix-up in tallying the votes led to the wrong woman being crowned. Silva, who is Hispanic, is suing the pageant, alleging rigging and racial bias.
(Damian Dovarganes / AP)
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Miss Great Britain 2006

Danielle Lloyd was stripped of her title after it was revealed that she had posed nude for Playboy and amid accusations that she was dating one of the judges at the time of the contest. Lloyd went on to star in the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 where she and other contestants were accused of bullying and making racist comments about Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.
(Guang Niu / Getty Images)
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Miss United States Teen 2003

Former Miss Oregon Teen USA Kari Ann Peniche was stripped of her title in 2003 after she posed nude for Playboy magazine. Peniche appeared as a patient on the VH1 television show Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew but was involuntarily discharged.

In 2009, a racy video of Peniche, "Grey’s Anatomy" star Eric Dane and his wife Rebecca Gayheart was leaked. The 12-minute video was said to be shot inside Peniche’s apartment, and within it, Gayheart said she was high.
(Albert L. Ortega / WireImage)
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Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2008

Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2008 Lindsey Evans was stripped of her crown 10 days before completing her reign. She and her friends skipped out on a $46 restaurant bill, and Evans left behind her purse, which contained a bag of marijuana. The women were arrested for theft and drug possession when they returned to retrieve the purse.
(Splash News)
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Miss Universe 2002

Former Miss Russia Oxana Fedorova was fired less than four months into her reign for missing too many events. She was a law student at the time and complained that being Miss Universe interfered with her education. "I never had any intention of abandoning my university work," she said.

The pageant president said contestants know Miss Universe is a full-time job and that winners spend 80 percent of their time traveling as goodwill ambassadors.
(Dita Alangkara / AP)
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Miss America 1984

Vanessa Williams, representing New York, became the first black Miss America. She had to resign when nude photos taken before her beauty contest victories were published in Penthouse. The crown was given to Suzette Charles, who's also black. Williams later became a successful singer with such hits as "Save the Best for Last," and "Colors of the Wind." Some of her movie credits include "Eraser," "Soul Food" and "Dance with Me." She currently plays the scheming fashion editor on "Ugly Betty."
(Yvonne Hemsey / Getty Images)
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Miss World 1973

Marjorie Wallace was dethroned about four months into her reign, after she was accused of dating too many high-profile men, including professional soccer player George Best and singer Tom Jones. The organizers said the first woman from the U.S. to win the title hadn't maintained Miss World's reputation. She later became a television host for "Good Morning Los Angeles" and "Entertainment Tonight."
(Evening Standard / Everning Standard via Getty Images)
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